Saturday, July 28, 2012

A Bit of British Humor

Here’s my extremely personal take on the Olympics Opening
Ceremony last night. I stayed up until 2:00 a.m. to see all of it. Here are my
impressions:

Things I loved:

- - the children’s choirs—beautiful singing; two of
the songs were hymns

- - the grassy knoll, the tree that lifted up to
reveal miners and other folk

- - the “forged” Olympic rings that lifted up and
showered “sparks”—ingenious!

- - Queen Elizabeth II’s film debut with Daniel
Craig and her corgis—absolutely beyond belief great—and very, very funny! Good
on her, for her wonderful sense of humor, and on the blond Bond for doing his
part as well! I laughed soooooooo hard!

- - The Chariots of Fire theme, especially the most
important part played by Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean)—extremely well conceived and
very, very funny! Such faces! I was holding my sides! Inserting Mr. Bean into
the original movie footage was also very funny. (I find it noteworthy that they
highlighted this movie, based on the life of committed Christian, Eric
Liddell.)

- - the lighted “Bond” motorboat with David Beckham
aboard, speeding up the Thames to deliver the flame

- - Sir Steve Redgrave jogging the last stretch into
the stadium

- - “Abide With Me” sung by Emili Sande, words not
changed

- - the honor guard of 500 people who actually built
the Olympic park—nice touch, and well-deserved

- - the seven teens lighting the “cauldron” whose
“petals” were brought in with each country’s athletes by children. I think it’s
great to involve young people and “pass on the torch” to them. (Love that the
“cauldron” is in the middle of the stadium. I don’t remember ever seeing one
there before.)

- - the fireworks!

Things I didn’t like as well:

- - Some of the music wasn’t to my taste. The Arctic
Monkeys left me somewhat cold.

- - I personally don’t appreciate rocking out music,
sensuous dancing, and the “demons” and other ghouls in the last half of the
show.

- - Although the lighted doves on bikes were a nice
touch, the grating music from my childhood kind of dimmed the effect for me.
“One and one and one is three.” Duh!

- - Sir Paul McCartney certainly knows how to milk
it for all it’s worth. Again, although “Hey Jude” wouldn’t be on my personal favorites
chart, you can’t deny he is an icon.

Overall grade for Danny Boyle’s
Olympic Opening Ceremony: A+I think he
caught the Britishness of Great Britain, its history, color, talent, youth, and
best of all, it’s indomitable sense of humor—or should I spell that humour?

1 comment:

I liked and disliked many of the same things.The Chariots of Fire segment was my favorite!

But I thought the beginning was way too busy. I don't know if anyone in the stands could have seen what any of the individual people were doing except for the Jumbotron.

The nightmares, giant blown-up villains, and giant baby were all kinda weird.

And I did think the passing of the torch was a little anticlimactic. Usually everyone waits in anticipation to see which famous athlete gets to do the final honors, and while I can understand letting the kids do it, it was just a bit of a let-down for me.

Hi and welcome to In the Way! I explore many subjects, striving always to present them from a biblical viewpoint. Feel free to browse the tabs at the top for general categories. If you don't see what you're looking for, use the search button below. I'm a pastor's wife, mother of two, grandma, teacher, author, and blogger. I live in a quaint little village in the beautiful Basque region of northern Spain.

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Lou Ann is a young-thinking grandma with an infectious laugh. She rejoices in nature and other beautiful things--including people! She's an avid writer and practices several other artistic expressions, like singing when no one's listening, calligraphy, photography, and even "serious art." Lou Ann loves her Lord Jesus Christ, family, and her church.